I have been with Schwan's for over 10 years and can see myself staying until I retire in 40 years. I have worked in 3 different areas within the company during that time. Schwan's is great at looking at internal talent and finding the best fit for our employees. Just another way they show that Culture really does matter. I have found there is a great work-life balance. I am able to work directly with my supervisor if I need to take time off for a child's school function or other items.

It was nice working outside and interacting with customers and people. The LGM was very easy to get along with and not overbearing with the "numbers."

Cons

Very few days less than 10 hours. It was hard to develop new customers for a brand not many people had heard of. Price of products did not match quality. Days of endless rain/cold/snow really affected morale.

Advice to Management

When a higher-level manager explains that mass marketing the product(s) would result in demand outpacing supply, it might be time to re-evaluate the big picture.

Good employee discount on good food. Two vision plans, and the buy-up plan is excellent.

Cons

The Hand Held Computer system is 8 years old. The "dynamic" routing system used to put customers in order was not able to be implemented the way they planned when they bought it. Instead of admitting their mistake and accepting a million dollar loss, they did a work around. Now Sales people have to follow dangerous routes and hit time windows that re in flexible and unrealistic. They have been losing market share since this software was implemented. Experienced salespeople don't follow the assigned order, but if you're covering a route or just starting out, you won't know any better. I wouldn't recommend working here until after they upgrade their hand held computers, improve the routing software, and increase the truck to route ratio. If you are new, I guarantee you will have route days moved due to breakdowns of their old fleet of abused trucks. Most depots have only one spare truck, sometimes for as many as 16 routes.

Advice to Management

Have a truck to route ratio of 6-5. You should always have trucks available to build. Moving route days due to trucks when you have no way of notifying customers they shouldn't wait for you, or when you'll be coming is rude and bad business. Lock sequence on the routes. Let the experience route sales people determine the best order to run their customers. Don't limit time windows to 2 hour blocks starting on odd hours. Improve your decision making processes. The silos in Marshall prevent profitable decisions.